Buff my Hydra

[anamiac]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. Ra32LC8a2ecepjvbIIqVwwHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=dfb3921d3b306f9fdedd70f5dd1cb8d66b5d5901387567 4a65fe108ca4d243a8&ipo=images
So, in this campaign we're all playing demigods and the DM has served up to everyone a GENEROUS allotment of divine perks, abilities, free spells, and just raw power. I've got an intelligent, 9 headed colossal hydra, and after the latest successful adventure I'm getting two more levels... And I feel like going up to 11 heads might start getting into diminishing returns.

Here's my statblock:

8 HD Homebrew (https://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=1747.0) Hydra
Str 61, Dex 13, Con 39, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 14
AC: 68 with karmic strike active. FF: 67. Touch: 29
HP: 203
Saves: F 35, R 22, W 25
Feats: Combat Expertise, improved trip, Dodge, Mobility, Karmic Strike, Knock down, Mage Slayer
Attacks: nine bite attacks at d20+34 doing 3d8+26 damage


Ask not how I got those numbers. There's definitely more stuff, but the point is, we have a very big hydra that's hard to hit, has decent saves... and that has a LOT of attacks. One focus has been on attacks of opportunity. Hydras can respond to provocation by making an attack of opportunity with any and all heads that haven't made an attack of opportunity yet. I'd also like to get Cleave/Improved Cleave at some point. And of course, anything that makes my attacks better (ie, increases my strength or damage dice without increasing my size cause I'm at the limit already) is cool. Protecting my other teammates (who are generally human sized, and more focused on spells) would be cool too.

So yea, classes, prestige classes, templates... I know enough about 3.5 to have an inkling of how much content there is out there and it's staggering. Also, the DM allows quite a bit of homebrew, on a case-by-case basis. So I'm throwing it out to the community and I'm curious as to what options you'll find to pimp my Hydra out!

[MaxiDuRaritry]

An 8 HD Colossal hydra? That seems a bit weak for something so big.

Start boosting your Wis score (but see below) and take levels in ardent (with the Magic mantle to count psionics and magic as identical, if needed), along with the Supernatural Transformation feat, with Psionics being the SLA you're focusing on. Your ML equals your HD (or higher) instead of just 1 or 2 (along with a bunch of other benefits of manifesting as a supernatural ability), and you can learn powers equal to your level. Since your pp pool will be small at first, take powers that can be used at full strength without augmenting, such as psionic minor creation, which will be ~10 cubic feet of any plant matter you want for 10 hours (or twice that, with metapsionics), as an example. Find a manifester with access to the psychic chirurgery power that you can pay for additional powers known, so you're not stuck with the paltry few you start with. Leadership might be a good idea for a manifesting minion. If you boost your Wis enough, maybe consider a level or two in martial monk for the Wis to AC and access to any fighter feat without bothering with prereqs. Exceptional Deflection and Infinite Deflection are definitely high on my list of picks for bonus fighter feats, since you can ignore all the prereqs for them. Linked Power so you can abuse the action economy to manifest your powers without throwing your standard actions into the meat grinder.

Would your DM allow you to use a feat to swap your Wis score for Str or Con for manifesting? Because the Lost Tradition feat (Bastards & Bloodlines, 3rd party) could give you that.

Also, consider taking Item Familiar and Ancestral Relic so you can have a really nice piece of equipment of your choosing -- if you're a monk, consider trying to go for your unarmed strike. It'd give you the ability to make kicks and add your bites as secondary attacks. (Snap kick would give you even more attacks to be getting on with.) A flurry with a +1 throwing/distance unarmed strike would practically allow you to teleport across the battlefield by throwing your body. (Think Liu Kang's flying kick, from Mortal Kombat, which allows you to basically fly around within your unarmed strike's range, only you could just jump and stomp on enemies, or shoulder-check them, or...) Metalline would literally turn your body into animated adamantine, if you want, turning you into a massive mechagodzilla-hydra. Lots of other abilities could do other fun things. Sizing, perhaps?

So maybe hydra HD 8/monk 1/ardent 1? Purchase a bunch of feats (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?400840-List-of-Feat-Granting-Items-Locations-Grafts), use the Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?119456-What-is-a-quot-Chaos-Shuffle-quot) (DCFS) to change them to the feats you want, and watch your efficacy skyrocket.

[edit] If you focus largely on action economy breaking, movement-related powers, utility, and other effects that augment what you're doing and expand on how you do them, that's where you'll likely find your biggest boosts.

[pabelfly]

Some quick buffs:

Endurance + Steadfast Determination would get you +17 to your Will Save.

A level in Binder + Improved Binding would get you half your CON to AC. Three feats would get you into Fist of the Forest, and get your CON to AC.

Those are the most obvious power boosts given your stats.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Most people around here seem to agree that gestalt is worth about +2 LA, give or take. Could you talk your DM into allowing you to convert to gestalt with your racial HD in exchange for +2 LA? Because that opens up so much it's not even funny. Start with a level or three in factotum (for obvious reasons), and see if you can take Human Heritage + Able Learner to make all skills class skills. If you wanted to do the ardent thing, go with the Supernatural Transformation (Psionics) feat and start dipping into manifesting classes 1 level each, using ardent for the higher level powers, all the other classes for the lower level powers you want to augment (and there are a ton that are totally worth it if your ML = your HD), and add all of those bonus pp from, say, Lost Tradition (Strength) together for a ton of power points. A level in psionic spellthief (along with a Master Psithief variant of Master Spellthief) to add all of your MLs together for 50+ MLs (more, with an orange ioun stone and similar, depending on exactly what levels you gestalt with).

I'd say that's easily on par with most else you can get around here, I think.

Without going infinite, anyway.

Hmm. How many of your heads can manifest powers at once? Isn't there a feat for that?

[Beni-Kujaku]

I mean, one level of Warblade gives you 4 maneuvers and one stance. If you know you won't go much higher in level, it's probably the best return on investment. Also, hydras make multiple bites as a single attack. It synergizes incredibly well with rider-based and damage-based maneuvers. A simple Leading the Charge stances gets you a potential +45 to damage when charging, and Mountain Hammer is +63 while bypassing DR, the bane of hydras. And White Raven Tactics is still White Raven Tactics.

[anamiac]

An 8 HD Colossal hydra? That seems a bit weak for something so big.

Start boosting your Wis score (but see below) and take levels in ardent (with the Magic mantle to count psionics and magic as identical, if needed), along with the Supernatural Transformation feat, with Psionics being the SLA you're focusing on. Your ML equals your HD (or higher) instead of just 1 or 2 (along with a bunch of other benefits of manifesting as a supernatural ability), and you can learn powers equal to your level. Since your pp pool will be small at first, take powers that can be used at full strength without augmenting, such as psionic minor creation, which will be ~10 cubic feet of any plant matter you want for 10 hours (or twice that, with metapsionics), as an example. Find a manifester with access to the psychic chirurgery power that you can pay for additional powers known, so you're not stuck with the paltry few you start with. Leadership might be a good idea for a manifesting minion. If you boost your Wis enough, maybe consider a level or two in martial monk for the Wis to AC and access to any fighter feat without bothering with prereqs. Exceptional Deflection and Infinite Deflection are definitely high on my list of picks for bonus fighter feats, since you can ignore all the prereqs for them. Linked Power so you can abuse the action economy to manifest your powers without throwing your standard actions into the meat grinder.

Ardent is interesting, but very complicated. I'll have to read up on that.
On the other hand I can clearly see that picking up Exceptional Deflection would give me a boost vs ranged touch attacks. My AC is low against touch attacks, so that would be useful. Is Martial Monk a different class than regular monks?
Of course, my lack of hands technically means I cannot use the Deflect arrows.


Would your DM allow you to use a feat to swap your Wis score for Str or Con for manifesting? Because the Lost Tradition feat (Bastards & Bloodlines, 3rd party) could give you that.

Also, consider taking Item Familiar and Ancestral Relic so you can have a really nice piece of equipment of your choosing -- if you're a monk, consider trying to go for your unarmed strike. It'd give you the ability to make kicks and add your bites as secondary attacks. (Snap kick would give you even more attacks to be getting on with.) A flurry with a +1 throwing/distance unarmed strike would practically allow you to teleport across the battlefield by throwing your body. (Think Liu Kang's flying kick, from Mortal Kombat, which allows you to basically fly around within your unarmed strike's range, only you could just jump and stomp on enemies, or shoulder-check them, or...) Metalline would literally turn your body into animated adamantine, if you want, turning you into a massive mechagodzilla-hydra. Lots of other abilities could do other fun things. Sizing, perhaps?

Well, true neutral does prevent me from taking ancestral relic, but I already have a cool magical weapon. I don't need more attacks, if I did I'd just stay hydra and get more heads. What I need is to increase the odds that my many attacks actually hit, and make it so they hit harder. I feel like going down the monk path may make me better at what is already good enough while not making me better at what I'm missing.


So maybe hydra HD 8/monk 1/ardent 1? Purchase a bunch of feats (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?400840-List-of-Feat-Granting-Items-Locations-Grafts), use the Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?119456-What-is-a-quot-Chaos-Shuffle-quot) (DCFS) to change them to the feats you want, and watch your efficacy skyrocket.
[edit] If you focus largely on action economy breaking, movement-related powers, utility, and other effects that augment what you're doing and expand on how you do them, that's where you'll likely find your biggest boosts.


I like movement bonuses. I like items that grant me feats (I have 50,000 gp I need to spend). Action economy breaking is cool. Anything that increases my reach is cool. I will consider what you've said.


Some quick buffs:

Endurance + Steadfast Determination would get you +17 to your Will Save.
I'm not sure about endurance, it doesn't seem to apply to all combat saves. But it is a requirement for steadfast determination, and that's a pretty solid boost to my wisdom save. It also allows me to keep pushing up my con and strength and not have to worry about my wisdom score, so that's pretty sweet too.


A level in Binder + Improved Binding would get you half your CON to AC. Three feats would get you into Fist of the Forest, and get your CON to AC.
Those are the most obvious power boosts given your stats.
Through DAHLVER-NAR, THE TORTURED ONE? I don't need bonuses to my natural armor, it's plenty high already. Having a really high AC is counterproductive with Karmic strike.
However, I am interested in getting better Touch AC, and it seems like fist of the forest gives me those.



Most people around here seem to agree that gestalt is worth about +2 LA, give or take. Could you talk your DM into allowing you to convert to gestalt with your racial HD in exchange for +2 LA? Because that opens up so much it's not even funny. Start with a level or three in factotum (for obvious reasons), and see if you can take Human Heritage + Able Learner to make all skills class skills. If you wanted to do the ardent thing, go with the Supernatural Transformation (Psionics) feat and start dipping into manifesting classes 1 level each, using ardent for the higher level powers, all the other classes for the lower level powers you want to augment (and there are a ton that are totally worth it if your ML = your HD), and add all of those bonus pp from, say, Lost Tradition (Strength) together for a ton of power points. A level in psionic spellthief (along with a Master Psithief variant of Master Spellthief) to add all of your MLs together for 50+ MLs (more, with an orange ioun stone and similar, depending on exactly what levels you gestalt with).

I'd say that's easily on par with most else you can get around here, I think.

Without going infinite, anyway.

Hmm. How many of your heads can manifest powers at once? Isn't there a feat for that?

Don't underestimate how ignorant I am. What does factotum give me? I'm seeing a bunch of sweet things that play off my intelligence, but my character is almost as dumb as me, so I don't see that helping me much. Is factotum basically about getting access to more skills and skill points? I'm quite content with my skills as they are.

I'll have to do further research on psionics, it's not an area of the game I'm very familiar with.


I mean, one level of Warblade gives you 4 maneuvers and one stance. If you know you won't go much higher in level, it's probably the best return on investment. Also, hydras make multiple bites as a single attack. It synergizes incredibly well with rider-based and damage-based maneuvers. A simple Leading the Charge stances gets you a potential +45 to damage when charging, and Mountain Hammer is +63 while bypassing DR, the bane of hydras. And White Raven Tactics is still White Raven Tactics.

Well, this looks interesting. This homebrew hydra lets me charge and attack with all my heads at the end of the charge. So anything that buffs my damage on a charge is pretty cool. But I'm not sure how these things work.
LEADING THE CHARGE - doesn't that boost my allies' damage by my initiator level? So if I have two levels in warblade, my allies (not me) do an extra two damage on a charge?
MOUNTAIN HAMMER - It forces me to attack with only one head instead of all nine. However, it gives me 2d6 extra damage and overcomes damage reduction. Perhaps size adjustments have something to do with how 2d6 becomes +63?

------------------------
Weaknesses:
What are some things that increase my chance to hit with my bite attacks? Perhaps things that turn them into touch attacks? Currently I can turn 10 attacks per day into touch attacks - which is just the first round of combat for me.
What are some ways to increase my melee damage for ALL of my attacks? Not just one.
What are some ways to help me survive spells and effects that have no save?

Ability scores:
What are some ways to increase my strength and Con?
Ways to make my strength and con do more work for me (fist of the forest, steadfast determination are great examples).

Attacks of opportunity:
If someone provokes an attack of opportunity against me, I get to attack them nine times.
I have mage slayer that prevents enemy casters from casting spells defensively.
I have knockdown and with my size and strength, anyone I hit is gonna be prone. If they stand up, I get an AoO.
I have karmic strike so anyone who hits me gets a 9 headed AoO in return.
What are some ways to increase my reach and allow me to lock down a greater portion of the battlefield? Or should I simply focus on mobility? I already have a 40' fly speed, freedom of movement, dimension door and teleport.

[pabelfly]

If you're Lawful, Law Devotion plus a dip in Cleric would give you +3 to your attack rolls, but only so many times per day. You could get maybe two combats with that, three if you buy an item called a Nightstick.

Fighter plus Weapon Focus (Bite) gives you a flat +1 to your bites. You could then take Fighter + Resolute ACF at second level to add half your BAB to Will saves. It also sets you up for the Sense Weakness feat, which helps you ignore some damage reduction on your enemies.

[Vaern]

An 8 HD Colossal hydra? That seems a bit weak for something so big.

Very weak. To put it into perspective, a single 3rd level spell can effectively eliminate the threat instantly on a failed will save (Deep Slumber hits up to 10 HD; knock it out and coup de grace for the kill).

The Monster Manual chapter on creating new monsters suggests a minimum of 24 HD for a colossal creature, with larger creatures inherently having more hit dice to reflect the toughness granted by their sheer mass. The lowest HD I can find for a colossal creature in MM is 19 on the progression of some whales in the animals section, but most colossal creatures tend to have at least 30.

I don't know what level the actual party fighting this thing is, but I'd recommend inflating its HD and rebalancing it with lower constitution if you feel that its HP ends up too high.

[Rebel7284]

For maneuvers (warblade/swordsage/etc.) you have to remember that your initiator level is added to half your non-initator HD. So at level 10, your initiator level would be 4+2 = 6 (third level maneuvers).

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?125732-3-x-X-stat-to-Y-bonus

This is the thread for adding stats to things.

[anamiac]

If you're Lawful, Law Devotion plus a dip in Cleric would give you +3 to your attack rolls, but only so many times per day. You could get maybe two combats with that, three if you buy an item called a Nightstick.

Fighter plus Weapon Focus (Bite) gives you a flat +1 to your bites. You could then take Fighter + Resolute ACF at second level to add half your BAB to Will saves. It also sets you up for the Sense Weakness feat, which helps you ignore some damage reduction on your enemies.

True neutral, unfortunately. Resolute is pretty nice though.


Very weak. To put it into perspective, a single 3rd level spell can effectively eliminate the threat instantly on a failed will save (Deep Slumber hits up to 10 HD; knock it out and coup de grace for the kill).

The Monster Manual chapter on creating new monsters suggests a minimum of 24 HD for a colossal creature, with larger creatures inherently having more hit dice to reflect the toughness granted by their sheer mass. The lowest HD I can find for a colossal creature in MM is 19 on the progression of some whales in the animals section, but most colossal creatures tend to have at least 30.

I don't know what level the actual party fighting this thing is, but I'd recommend inflating its HD and rebalancing it with lower constitution if you feel that its HP ends up too high.

I'm not the DM. I'm one of the adventurers in the party.


For maneuvers (warblade/swordsage/etc.) you have to remember that your initiator level is added to half your non-initator HD. So at level 10, your initiator level would be 4+2 = 6 (third level maneuvers).

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?125732-3-x-X-stat-to-Y-bonus

This is the thread for adding stats to things.

Nice. Okay, that opens up a lot more when it comes to warblade stuff I could use.

[Vaern]

I'm not the DM. I'm one of the adventurers in the party

Whoops, that's what I get skimming over the details too quickly :o

[The Glyphstone]

If you have the feats to spare, the chain leading up to Robilar's Gambit synergies nicely with Karmic Strike - AoO retaliation with all your heads just for being attacked, and again if they land a hit.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Is Martial Monk a different class than regular monks?You replace your normal monk feat selection with any feat that can be taken by fighters, but since you don't have to qualify to take any monk feat, you don't have to qualify for these, either.

Martial Monk (Dragon #310)
Some monks train as soldiers rather than as ascetic mystic warriors. These martial artists have a greater range of combat talents, but have less time to practice other skills.

This variant simply swaps one or more of a class's features for one or more class features of another class. A class feature gained works just as it did for its original class, including the level at which it is gained and any other effects, except as noted below.

Lose: -1 skill point per level (and -4 skill points at 1st level); no Knowledge skills as class skills.

Gain: Fighter bonus feat list to choose monk bonus feats (at 1st, 2nd, and 6th level); Intimidate is class skill.

Multiclass Options: This monk can multiclass between fighter and monk with no penalty.


Of course, my lack of hands technically means I cannot use the Deflect arrows.You've got other limbs -- more than most humanoids, in fact. Alternatively, give yourself hands. The warforged mighty arms graft is a mere 1,000 gp for two arms, and they don't require you to either have arms to begin with or remove any you started with. And like any magic item that isn't a weapon or shield, if you magically enhance them before grafting, they'll scale to your size automagically.


Well, true neutral does prevent me from taking ancestral relic, but I already have a cool magical weapon. I don't need more attacks, if I did I'd just stay hydra and get more heads. What I need is to increase the odds that my many attacks actually hit, and make it so they hit harder. I feel like going down the monk path may make me better at what is already good enough while not making me better at what I'm missing.The trick is to find ways to enhance your unarmed strikes for utility and mobility more than anything. The ability to throw yourself to anywhere within +1 throwing/distance range is a fantastic bit of mobility and utility in and of itself. The ability to turn your body into adamantine has all sorts of uses, both defensively, offensively, and utility-wise (such as punching through stone walls like you're the Kool-Aid Man hyped up on some seriously illegal substances). And being able to shrink or expand to any size category you want via sizing sounds like a wonderful way to squeeze into spaces a Colossal hydra just...can't, normally.


Don't underestimate how ignorant I am. What does factotum give me? I'm seeing a bunch of sweet things that play off my intelligence, but my character is almost as dumb as me, so I don't see that helping me much. Is factotum basically about getting access to more skills and skill points? I'm quite content with my skills as they are.Factotums have all skills as class skills, no matter how weird or difficult the skill might be otherwise, so stuff like Lucid Dreaming, Autohypnosis, and Iaijutsu Focus are totally on the table. And if you took Human Heritage (the fluff requirements of "having a human ancestor" are easy to fulfill) and Able Learner with that level of factotum, you'll essentially have all skills as class skills for the rest of your career. Factotum also gains the ability to add their Int mod to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws by spending inspiration points, as well as the ability to add your factotum level on any skill rolls that you have ranks in. At 3rd level, you gain a minor spell-like ability 1/day (not generally impressive, but it does allow for item creation, including alchemical items), the ability to add +Int to any Str and Dex rolls (including initiative) and +Int to your AC (similar to Dodge).

Mainly, it's for the skills and +Int to all the stuff. But monk would honestly do much better for you. Still, a giant hydra having access to Craft (Underwater Basket Weaving) is giggle-worthy, if nothing else.


I'll have to do further research on psionics, it's not an area of the game I'm very familiar with.It's a fun system. A lot like casting, but with some notable differences (such as not needing verbal or somatic components, so wearing armor and not being a humanoid or being unable to speak are very much on the table). Also power points and augmenting powers.

[Gruftzwerg]

Nice. Okay, that opens up a lot more when it comes to warblade stuff I could use.

Here a recent Warblade (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?653230-TO-Reptile-a-Warblade-(20)-of-the-Perfect-Order) build of mine. It accesses the hydra form via magic item cheese.
While you should beware of the cheesy stuff in the build (your DM may rule otherwise), there is a good list of possible interesting maneuvers and stances for you.

I also agree that Warblade should give the most in return for you investment.

[Paragon]

Hello there,
Just dropping by to give you the build I made in a competition based on Hydra.
You might find stuff to your liking :)

https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25687551&postcount=18

[anamiac]

If you have the feats to spare, the chain leading up to Robilar's Gambit synergies nicely with Karmic Strike - AoO retaliation with all your heads just for being attacked, and again if they land a hit.

I actually like Robilar's Gambit as a straight up upgrade for Karmic strike. Definitely something I'm considering in a few levels when I get +12 BAB. The DM is cool about letting us retrain our characters, so I'd drop karmic strike at that point. I wouldn't need both feats - having two AoO against the same target is pointless; I get to attack with up to 9 heads regardless of how many times they've provoked me.



...Martial Monk...


Cool. Yes, that's definitely useful.



The trick is to find ways to enhance your unarmed strikes for utility and mobility more than anything. The ability to throw yourself to anywhere within +1 throwing/distance range is a fantastic bit of mobility and utility in and of itself. The ability to turn your body into adamantine has all sorts of uses, both defensively, offensively, and utility-wise (such as punching through stone walls like you're the Kool-Aid Man hyped up on some seriously illegal substances). And being able to shrink or expand to any size category you want via sizing sounds like a wonderful way to squeeze into spaces a Colossal hydra just...can't, normally.

Oh, well, his normal size is Huge. He's getting to colossal via a divine ability called Alter Size (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#alterSize). He absolutely can and has been smaller than colossal when he wants to be. Otherwise, well, he'd have a hard time drinking with the guys in the tavern, wouldn't he?



Factotums have all skills as class skills, no matter how weird or difficult the skill might be otherwise, so stuff like Lucid Dreaming, Autohypnosis, and Iaijutsu Focus are totally on the table. And if you took Human Heritage (the fluff requirements of "having a human ancestor" are easy to fulfill) and Able Learner with that level of factotum, you'll essentially have all skills as class skills for the rest of your career. Factotum also gains the ability to add their Int mod to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws by spending inspiration points, as well as the ability to add your factotum level on any skill rolls that you have ranks in. At 3rd level, you gain a minor spell-like ability 1/day (not generally impressive, but it does allow for item creation, including alchemical items), the ability to add +Int to any Str and Dex rolls (including initiative) and +Int to your AC (similar to Dodge).

In my last adventurer I was the diplomat. +22 to diplomacy and that's without my spell that gives me +10 (stupid anti-magic zone). And the kicker is he doesn't have any ranks in diplomacy. So, I'm very happy with his skills as is, but I don't have enough intelligence to become a master of everything. And I've been hogging the limelight anyway and should probably let some of the other party members get to use their skill checks.


Here a recent Warblade (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?653230-TO-Reptile-a-Warblade-(20)-of-the-Perfect-Order) build of mine. It accesses the hydra form via magic item cheese.
While you should beware of the cheesy stuff in the build (your DM may rule otherwise), there is a good list of possible interesting maneuvers and stances for you.

I also agree that Warblade should give the most in return for you investment.
I'm seeing a lot of good stuff here.
The swift actions are probably the best.
Full round actions are interesting. Several of these would allow me to make all my attacks with some additional good thing that happens.
Most of the standard actions just suck because they force me to attack only once instead of with all my heads.

Looking at the maneuvers (https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/bladeMagic/maneuvers.html), I see that swordsages, warblades, and crusaders all get seperate lists. Are the warblade stances/maneuvers better, or is there a reason why you talk about warblades as opposed to the other two?

Swordsage/Desert wind looks fun but nothing breaking.

Crusader would give me
DEFENSIVE REBUKE which is simply is amazing. Now if the Tarrasque Not super useful if we're facing a horde of goblins, but certainly something that will make a big boss pause and consider.
THICKET OF BLADES is also pretty good. Nobody move!

Diamond Mind wasn't impressive

Iron Heart was better

Setting Sun has FEIGNED OPENING & FOOL’S STRIKE, which seem great.

Tiger claw has GIRALLON WINDMILL FLESH RIP, which is quite interesting. But PREY ON THE WEAK is amazing! RAGING MONGOOSE is cool too.

Well, I'll look at it more tomorrow. It's late and I have to work in the morning. Thanks for all the feedback guys!

[Beni-Kujaku]

Well, this looks interesting. This homebrew hydra lets me charge and attack with all my heads at the end of the charge. So anything that buffs my damage on a charge is pretty cool. But I'm not sure how these things work.
LEADING THE CHARGE - doesn't that boost my allies' damage by my initiator level? So if I have two levels in warblade, my allies (not me) do an extra two damage on a charge?
MOUNTAIN HAMMER - It forces me to attack with only one head instead of all nine. However, it gives me 2d6 extra damage and overcomes damage reduction. Perhaps size adjustments have something to do with how 2d6 becomes +63?

Hydras are special. There's no "attacking with a single head" with them. Even their attacks of opportunities are made with all heads. A single attack in the statblock is made with all heads. A "single melee attack" is still 9 bites, hence why a 9-headed hydra with two warblade levels gain +2d6*9=+63 damage with mountain hammer. If your DM rules that each bite is a different attack, then leading the charge is still as good (you are always your own ally), but mountain hammer is bad and you should instead look at swift action boosts, like Lion's Roar, or going Swordsage for Burning Blade and Burning Brand.

[Glimbur]

If you want to learn a new subsystem, Magic of Incarnum has the Totemist class which is all about natural weapons. Since you already have some you can focus on the ones that improve weapons you already have. There is also utility stuff like flight or short range teleportation. Having a bunch of monster HD is an issue but some parts of it scale with any HD and you can spend a feat to get some abilities closer to level appropriate.

[Anthrowhale]

What happens if you equip your Hydra with 9 colossal mouthpick weapons?

For example I believe 9 colossal +1 Mouthpick Glaives would cost 72k gp, double your reach, and double your number of attacks/round in a +35/+30 attack routine per head, with each attack dealing 6d8+38 damage. Even if you can only afford 1 Mouthpick weapon (8k gp), having some reach could be great. Note that exotic weapons are fine since mouthpick weapons confer proficiency.

In terms of classes, you might consider going War Hulk. In 2 levels you can great Great Swing which presumably allows each head to attack 3 adjacent foes. At 3rd level, you pick up a strength-based rockthrowing ability. At 4th level, you get a version of Great Swing with iteratives. At 6th level, you hit 2 opponents with thrown attacks. At 8th level you hit 4 squares of creatures with thrown attacks. At 10th level every melee attack applies to every square you threaten.

[anamiac]

Hydras are special. There's no "attacking with a single head" with them. Even their attacks of opportunities are made with all heads. A single attack in the statblock is made with all heads. A "single melee attack" is still 9 bites, hence why a 9-headed hydra with two warblade levels gain +2d6*9=+63 damage with mountain hammer. If your DM rules that each bite is a different attack, then leading the charge is still as good (you are always your own ally), but mountain hammer is bad and you should instead look at swift action boosts, like Lion's Roar, or going Swordsage for Burning Blade and Burning Brand.

Talked with the DM, looks like he does not allow me to use mountain hammer with all my bites. So swift action boosts would be the way to go.


If you want to learn a new subsystem, Magic of Incarnum has the Totemist class which is all about natural weapons. Since you already have some you can focus on the ones that improve weapons you already have. There is also utility stuff like flight or short range teleportation. Having a bunch of monster HD is an issue but some parts of it scale with any HD and you can spend a feat to get some abilities closer to level appropriate.

This didn't look interesting but then I stumbled on one that let's me double my threat range (http://talonsmindscape.wikidot.com/dread-carapace). I'll have to research this more, but if I could get that with a one or two level dip, it might be worth it.


What happens if you equip your Hydra with 9 colossal mouthpick weapons?

For example I believe 9 colossal +1 Mouthpick Glaives would cost 72k gp, double your reach, and double your number of attacks/round in a +35/+30 attack routine per head, with each attack dealing 6d8+38 damage. Even if you can only afford 1 Mouthpick weapon (8k gp), having some reach could be great. Note that exotic weapons are fine since mouthpick weapons confer proficiency.

In terms of classes, you might consider going War Hulk. In 2 levels you can great Great Swing which presumably allows each head to attack 3 adjacent foes. At 3rd level, you pick up a strength-based rockthrowing ability. At 4th level, you get a version of Great Swing with iteratives. At 6th level, you hit 2 opponents with thrown attacks. At 8th level you hit 4 squares of creatures with thrown attacks. At 10th level every melee attack applies to every square you threaten.
Wow, these are both quite interesting. Never considered putting weapons in my mouth, but it's certainly going to increase my to-hit modifier faster than magic fang. And seems like war hulk is very much on theme, although I'm not sure how often I'll be throwing rocks.

[Anthrowhale]

... although I'm not sure how often I'll be throwing rocks.
There are some monsters (dragons are typical) which just attack from long range and avoid closing. Of course, if your allies are handling the ranged attacks it may not be necessary.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Just as a point of fact: if you went with the gestalt psionics idea, you could pull out stuff like a "breath weapon" (that is, the energy ray (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/energyRay.htm), energy cone (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/energyCone.htm), energy ball (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/energyBall.htm) and energy bolt (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/energyBolt.htm) powers, or even the gemstone breath power, from Dragon Magic [for an actual breath weapon]). You could also nab some teleportation (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/dimensionDoorPsionic.htm), some flight (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/overlandFlightPsionic.htm), or even astral construct (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/astralConstruct.htm) to make yourself a tireless mount. And at ML ~50, it'd be much longer range than throwing stuff would be, and quite strong, as well...

Y'know, as extra incentive.

[Gruftzwerg]

I'm seeing a lot of good stuff here.
The swift actions are probably the best.
Full round actions are interesting. Several of these would allow me to make all my attacks with some additional good thing that happens.
Most of the standard actions just suck because they force me to attack only once instead of with all my heads.

Looking at the maneuvers (https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/bladeMagic/maneuvers.html), I see that swordsages, warblades, and crusaders all get seperate lists. Are the warblade stances/maneuvers better, or is there a reason why you talk about warblades as opposed to the other two?

Swordsage/Desert wind looks fun but nothing breaking.

Crusader would give me
DEFENSIVE REBUKE which is simply is amazing. Now if the Tarrasque Not super useful if we're facing a horde of goblins, but certainly something that will make a big boss pause and consider.
THICKET OF BLADES is also pretty good. Nobody move!

Diamond Mind wasn't impressive

Iron Heart was better

Setting Sun has FEIGNED OPENING & FOOL’S STRIKE, which seem great.

Tiger claw has GIRALLON WINDMILL FLESH RIP, which is quite interesting. But PREY ON THE WEAK is amazing! RAGING MONGOOSE is cool too.

Well, I'll look at it more tomorrow. It's late and I have to work in the morning. Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Reasons why I did suggest Warblade and not the other ToB classes:

- Crusader sole starts with 2 of his 5 readied maneuvers at combat start. This will make your strategies less reliable, since you occasionally need to wait for your maneuvers...

- Swordsage doesn't have access to White Raven, which gives the most charge related damage maneuvers

- Warblade gets access to the most interesting maneuvers for a melee build (white raven charge maneuvers) and comes with a decent refresh mechanic (even without the cheesy interpretation mentioned in my build, it is still decent).

[anamiac]

Hey, I'm looking at this divine ability for my hydra.

Divine Monk
Prerequisites
Monk level 20th. DM has us ignore class prereequesites

Benefit
The deity’s unarmed strikes are treated as a magic slashing weapon with an enhancement bonus of +5 and the keen, lawful, and vorpal qualities. If the deity chooses, a particular attack can be bludgeoning instead of slashing, but the keen and vorpal qualities do not apply to that attack. Any unarmed attack the deity makes has a base damage of 2d12.

The deity can use the Deflect Arrows feat to deflect any ranged attacks (including spells that require ranged touch attacks) as if they were arrows. The deity can deflect any number of attacks in a single round. When the deity deflects any attack, the attack is reflected upon the attacker, using the deity’s base ranged attack bonus. When the deity deflects a spell, the spell’s level is added to the DC to deflect the attack. The deity only gains the second benefit of this ability if he or she has the Deflect Arrows feat.

So, by my calculation a medium creature with a 2d12 damage attack? At colossal size that's a whopping 16d6 damage. The problem is, my natural attacks are not unarmed attacks, for reasons that I can't say I understand. Is there a feat or class ability I could take that would bridge this gap and let me do 16d6 damage with each of my heads?

[Pezzo]

Hey, I'm looking at this divine ability for my hydra.


So, by my calculation a medium creature with a 2d12 damage attack? At colossal size that's a whopping 16d6 damage. The problem is, my natural attacks are not unarmed attacks, for reasons that I can't say I understand. Is there a feat or class ability I could take that would bridge this gap and let me do 16d6 damage with each of my heads?

A mouthpick scorpion kama would deal damage equal to your unarmed strike damage, I believe you won't benefit from the keen, lawful and vorpal properties though